


Balloons

by alwaysrollingdice



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Balloons, Coming Out, Fluff, Internalized Homophobia, Just some good ol' fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Photography, chihiro is transfem, hope's peak academy is just a normal school, nothing goes wrong ever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27775198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaysrollingdice/pseuds/alwaysrollingdice
Summary: Mondo Owada was a delinquent. He didn't care about the rules and did whatever he wanted to.Kiyotaka Ishimaru was the guy who followed every rule and made sure that everyone else did as well.Naturally they clashed. But not in a way one would expect.
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka & Oowada Mondo, Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo
Comments: 30
Kudos: 170





	1. Sorry

**Author's Note:**

> hii thank you for clicking on this! just to let you know, this is gonna have multiple chapters and it may get edited from time to time. i try not to edit chapters that are already published but sometimes you just can't avoid that. hope it doesn't cause you trouble!
> 
> the way i write chihiro for example is pretty different from canon, so canon differences can occur. well, this whole thing isn't canon anyways so
> 
> yeah, enjoy reading! sorry the first chapter is so short

Mondo Owada was a delinquent. He didn't care about rules and just did whatever he wanted. He had grown up in a biker gang, so breaking the rules was his way to function.

That meant he got into trouble for it as well, obviously. Mondo couldn't care less though. He was used to getting into trouble and he never made a big deal out of it.

Mondo was confident and full of pride. He also had quite a quick temper and often solved matters with violence instead of words. That didn't mean he was a bad guy though - he would never wish ill upon someone. He was also the type of person to never hold grudges.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru was the model student of Hope’s Peak Academy. As the Ultimate Moral Compass, his job was to follow the rules and make sure everyone else did so as well. He was loud, full of energy and determined to always be at his best.

Naturally, the two often clashed. Kiyotaka often called Mondo out for breaking any of the rules, such as smoking behind the school during lunch break or being late to class.

Obviously Mondo would…

...obey him...??

Wait. Why would Mondo ever do as he’s told? It was weird for Mondo to listen to anyone in the first place. It was even weirder for him to apologize for breaking the rules to a classmate who he barely knew.

Something was going on here. Something that neither of them was aware of. Surely, things were bound to change.

One day during lunch break, when Mondo and his best friend Chihiro sneaked behind the school so Mondo could smoke, he decided to ask her about it.

Chihiro was the polar opposite of Mondo - she was small, gentle looking and a bit of a crybaby. However, being the Ultimate Programmer, she was one of the smartest people Mondo knew.

“Hey Chihiro?” Mondo asked as he lit his cigarette.

“Whats up?” Chihiro looked up at him.

“I keep acting weird around Kiyotaka, do you have any idea why?” Mondo asked.

“Weird? You mean you keep doing what he says?”

“Yeah, but I never do that. Like I don't even follow your advice sometimes, why would I follow his?”

Chihiro sighed.  
“Maybe you think he's an authority?”

“Fuck authorities. They ain't shit.” Mondo angrily spit on the ground.

“I don't even think he is an authority! That's definitely not it.”

“I don't know..” Chihiro said before letting out a small ‘hmm’, indicating she was thinking about it intensely.

“Maybe you have a crush on him?” she asked after a pause.

Mondo coughed on the smoke.  
“But he’s a boy!”

“So what? Who said you can't have crushes on boys?” 

“Yeah but I'm not gay!” 

Chihiro chuckled and didn't say anything.

“There's no way I’m gay.” he quietly said to himself.

“Mondo! Why are you smoking on school grounds?!” a familiar voice said.

_Shit._

Mondo looked up to see Kiyotaka standing in front of him.

Suddenly he felt his palms get sweaty and his cheeks get hot. It was as if he suddenly forgot how to act. He tried to stay as natural as he could but he still felt awkward.

He got this. There's no way he's gonna apologize because of Kiyotaka! He was Mondo Owada after all! He didn't care about rules! He must stand his ground and fight back!

_Come on, say something!_

“Sorry.” Mondo muttered as he squashed his cigarette against the wall.

“I always find you here! Please stop coming here every lunch break!” Kiyotaka said and walked away.

“Gah! God fucking damnit! Why did I say sorry?!” Mondo asked himself angrily.

“Kiyotaka is so scary when he’s yelling..” Chihiro said with a shaky voice.

“Sorry Chihiro. It wasn't meant for you, I’m sure he didn't mean to scare you!” Mondo comforted him.

Chihiro wiped a little tear.  
“I'm okay. I'm just a crybaby.” she chuckled.

“God, I hate it here. Why is this happening to me?!” Mondo angrily kicked a rock on the sidewalk as he and Chihiro were walking home.

“What’s happening to you?” Chihiro asked.

“Kiyotaka _fucking_ Ishimaru.” Mondo answered.

“You sure think about it a lot.”

“Yeah, because it's weird! This kind if thing has never happened before!”

Chihiro didn't say anything.

“Chihiro come on. You're smart! Can't you help me out here? Tell me what's going on? Why did I say sorry to him back at lunch break?” Mondo nudged her.

“It's your life Mondo, how am I supposed to know why you're acting the way you are? I’m a programmer, not a therapist.” Chihiro complained.

Mondo sighed.

“However, I noticed one thing.” she added after a pause.

“You _definitely_ have a crush.”

“I don't! There's no way. I’m not even gay!”

Chihiro chuckled.

“You know what? You should give that last statement a little thinking.” she said before turning around the corner.

“What do you mean by that?!” Mondo yelled after her, but she only waved at him as an answer. 

The whole way home, Mondo thought about it, just like Chihiro said.

Was he gay? No, there's no way. He still liked girls a lot. There was no way he was gay.

Was Kiyotaka gay though? It was very unlikely. Or Mondo just wouldn't expect someone like him to be gay. Well, you never know, maybe he actually was gay. He concluded that he shouldn't assume these kinds of things. Wait, why was he thinking of Kiyotaka?

Mondo shook to hopefully get Kiyotaka out of his head. He sure thought about him awfully much for a straight man.

Yeah, there was no way he was gay. He just, couldn't be gay. Everyone else could be gay but not him.

Not him.

He wasn't gay.


	2. Art class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mondo failed art class. So did Makoto, Aoi and... Kiyotaka? Wait, why him?

“Today we are drawing still life. See these shapes? You're gonna have to draw them as realistically as you can. Don't forget to shade!”

Mondo hated art class. He really didn't understand art in general, even less how to create it. He sucked at drawing and was even worse at painting. He was a different kind of person, he wasn't some artsy kid like Hifumi or Leon. 

Naturally, he’d fail. Usually he pulled through the class with at least some works which seemed alright, but it wasn't the case this time.

Midway through the class, the teacher approached him.

“Owada, I believe you are aware that you failed the class this time, right?” she spoke softly and quietly.

“Yep.” Mondo responded.

“Please stay after the lesson ends. Can you do that for me?”

“I can.”

“Good.” the art teacher said and walked away.

Mondo also hated the teacher. She was super pretentious, she spoke in difficult words and strange sentences that Mondo just couldn't understand sometimes. Plus she explained arts in a way that made no sense to Mondo, making him hate it even more.

After the lesson, Mondo wasn't the only one to stay behind. There was also Makoto, Aoi and… Kiyotaka?

“So as we all know,” the art teacher started, “you all failed the art class.”

Mondo could understand why Makoto was here - he was also not the best at arts. Aoi was decent in Mondo’s opinion, but I guess she could fail as well. But… Kiyotaka? Why was he here?

Kiyotaka was usually amongst the best in all subjects. He studied a lot and put in way more effort than anyone else. So why did he out of all people fail?

“So to fix your grade, I thought I would have you do a group art project.”

“Group art project?” Aoi asked.

“Yes. You will all be working together to create an exhibition at the school cafeteria.”

“An exhibition?!” Makoto was shocked.

“You can use photos, paintings, drawings, collages, whatever you wish to use. You can also combine all of those into one exhibition.”

The class stared at the teacher in shock.

“Now about some rules. The minimum is 4 art pieces. This means each one of you has to create at least 1 piece of art.”

The students gulped.

“Your exhibition has to have a theme and a name. You will also have to make at least 1 promotional poster for it.” the teacher was pacing back and forth as she explained it with a stern tone. 

“When's the deadline?” Mondo asked.

“Let's see…” the teacher went to the calendar on the wall.  
“I'll give you 3 weeks.” she said. “No more.”

“So, what do we do?” Mondo asked after they had left the art class.

“Why don't we go to a classroom and figure something out?” Makoto suggested.

So they ended up in the geography class. Mondo sat on the table and strangely Kiyotaka didn't comment on it. He looked like he was feeling down anyways.

“So, we all failed arts. Out of all things! And I thought I’d pass for sure.” Aoi pouted.

“I’m so ashamed of myself...” Kiyotaka mumbled.

Mondo looked at him. He really must've felt bad. I mean, if Mondo was good at everything and then failed a ‘simple’ class such as art, he’d feel down too.

He wanted to say something to cheer him up. He wanted to show him that no one thought any less of him because he failed. But he… he somehow didn't know how.

What was wrong with him? He should absolutely know how to say encouraging words. He was used to saying great empowering words to his biker gang members. So why couldn't he do it now?

No way. Was he shy?

Of course not! Mondo could never be shy. Mondo was braver than a lion! He was tough and proud of it! He just…

“Kiyotaka, is everything alright with you? You’ve been looking down this whole time.” Aoi said.

Damnit! He wanted to be the first one to check up on him. He guessed his inner monologue took too much time.

“I’m just… so ashamed of myself for failing…” Kiyotaka said hazily. 

“It's okay! Don't worry about it! It just happens sometimes.” Aoi comforted him.

“Yeah, you're fine Kiyotaka! Don't stress about it too much.” Makoto added.

_Come on Mondo, say something!_

“We don't think any less of you because you failed. It's okay, we did too.” 

“Really?” Kiyotaka asked quietly.

“Yeah! I agree with what Mondo said.” Aoi said happily.

Suddenly Kiyotaka stood up.

“I will do my best to create the best exhibition!” he yelled like he always did.

Everyone smiled. The old Kiyotaka was back.

“We have to figure something out though.” Makoto said. “We only have 3 weeks, right?”

“Yeah, we better get started as soon as possible.” Mondo said.

The 4 sat in silence, everyone thinking of what they should do.

“Nothing. My head is empty.” Aoi sighed after a while.

“Mine too.” Makoto said.

“I got nothin’.” Mondo added.

Kiyotaka stayed silent.

“Wait, I have an idea!” Aoi suddenly sat up.

“Huh? What is it?” Makoto asked.

“She said we can use anything, right?” 

“Yeah?”

“So we can borrow the cameras from the school and make a photography exhibition! That would be the easiest!” she said. 

“Hey! That's something!” Mondo said.

“But what are we gonna take pictures of?” Kiyotaka asked.

They all stayed silent and thought about it.

“We could take 1 thing and just take pictures of it from different places and stuff. Like, for example, a lego piece or something.” Aoi suggested.

“A lego piece is too small.” Makoto said.

“It was an example!” Aoi defended herself.

“It's a good idea but what should the 1 thing be?” Kiyotaka asked.

Once again, no one said anything.

“What about a flower?” Kiyotaka suggested.

“It’s hard to take to different places though. And it can become ugly over time.” Aoi said.

“Man! I was gonna say a plant.” Makoto sighed.

“How about we pick something simple? Like balloons for example.” Mondo suggested.

“Balloons are a great idea!” Aoi exclaimed. 

“Really?” Mondo asked.

“Yeah! I mean they're easy to take to places and they're pretty!” Makoto said.

“Good job, Mondo!” Kiyotaka almost yelled.

Mondo felt his heart beat faster and his palms get sweaty. Kiyotaka said he did a good job!

Wait. Why was this different? Why is it special that Kiyotaka said it? Kiyotaka constantly encourages people who do well. That's normal for him.

It was at that moment that he realized that Chihiro was absolutely right.

He definitely had a crush.


	3. very important discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mondo discovers some very important things. Maybe it's too much information for him to take in at once. One of these things brings a big change his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really writing these updates so quickly i hope it doesn't make it any worse in quality. anyways i loved writing the dialogue for this update, please enjoy!!!

Next day they all gathered in the cafeteria and sat at the same lunch table. This kind of meeting was so important that Mondo didn't even sneak behind the school to smoke today.

“So, I have a plan.” Aoi said. “We go take walks after school and look out for pretty places that we think would be aesthetic on pictures.”

Everyone looked at each other.

“Come on, what reaction is this?” Aoi pouted. “And I worked so hard to think of some sort of plan as well.”

“Sorry Aoi. It's just that-” Makoto started.

“I know I’m not good at thinking if some place would look great in pictures. I actually can't take good pictures at all.” Mondo cut Makoto off. 

“I binge watched all sorts of photography tutorials and tips yesterday. I think we should all do that!” Aoi said.

“Alright! Everyone’s homework is to watch photography tutorials at home!” Kiyotaka gave loud orders. Mondo was sure that the whole cafeteria heard him.

“We could still go on walks though. I have a really pretty park near my home, we could take some pics there.” Aoi said.

“I don't have any parks around my home…” Makoto sighed.

“That's okay! If all our pics were at parks it would be boring. We need many different places!” Aoi cheered him up.

“That's true…”

“Why don't you and Kiyotaka look around your neighborhood for potential places? You can even take some balloons and a camera and already take some photos.” Aoi suggested.

“I agree! I think that would be smart!” Kiyotaka yelled.

“And Mondo will come with me to the park.” Aoi decided.

“I guess.” Mondo said. It's not like he had any say in it, but sure.

Turned out that Aoi and Mondo didn't live far away from each other at all. Only a couple blocks.

“First we have to buy balloons and some string or ribbon to tie to the balloons.” Aoi said.

“You have a whole plan and all?” Mondo asked.

“I’m telling you! I really want to fix my grade. If my mom finds out about it, I’m screwed.” Aoi answered.

As they walked out of the store, Aoi got a call from someone.

She answered the call while Mondo walked next to her, awkwardly eavesdropping the whole conversation.

It seemed to be her boyfriend or something, Mondo decided by the way Aoi talked to the person who called her. She smiled the whole time and called them by sweet nicknames that couples usually use. It made Mondo feel like he’s third wheeling, even though technically there were only 2 people - him and Aoi.

“Who was that?” Mondo asked after she ended the call.

“Sakura!” Aoi smiled.

“Sakura?!” Mondo asked in surprise.

“Yeah! She asked if I could come over.” Aoi answered like there was nothing wrong.

“But- I- you-” Mondo didn't know how to ask the right question.

“Oh my god Mondo, you don't know?!” Aoi gasped.

“Don't know what?”

“Me and Sakura are dating, obviously!” Aoi almost yelled.

“For reals?!”

“Yeah! I thought everyone knew.”

Mondo couldn't believe it. It wasn't like he didn't like it or had anything against it, he just…

“Wait Mondo, are you…?” Aoi suddenly asked.

“What? No! I just… I didn't think gay people were really real.” Mondo’s voice got quieter by the end of the sentence.

Aoi laughed.  
“Of course they're real! I know at least 3 people from our class who are LGBT as well.”

“LG-what?”

“LGBT? It stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans.” Aoi explained to him. “How do you not know this?”

“W-what do all these even mean?” Mondo asked.

Aoi sighed.  
“You should research it. We're not here so I could educate you, we’re here to check out the place and take pictures.” she said.

It really was a nice park. However, the pictures they took didn't come out so well.

“It's definitely the lightning. It's cloudy today, that’s why. We should come back on a sunny day.” Aoi said.

“I think some of your ideas would also work so much better if we had helium balloons.” Mondo added.

Aoi snapped and pointed a finger gun at him.  
“Good idea Mondo! We should definitely try that!”

“But for now I think we should go home. I think it's gonna rain.” she added after a pause.

After a couple of minutes, they had reached the point where their paths parted.

“You know what? I’m gonna give you my number just in case. We should also make a groupchat so…” Aoi got her phone out.

“Can't believe I’m giving my number to a boy. That's so unlike me.” Aoi joked.

“Because you only like girls, right?” Mondo asked.

“I like boys too.”

“Wait- how? You can do that?”

“Yeah? It's called bisexuality. Seriously Mondo, how do you not know this?” Aoi asked in disbelief.

“Anyways, see you at school!” she added and turned around, leaving Mondo behind with a whole lot of confusion and a new contact on his phone.

As Mondo walked back home, he couldn't stop thinking about what Aoi had said.

One can like both boys _and_ girls? This opened a whole another door for Mondo. All this time when he asked himself if he was gay, the answer was no because he liked girls. But now that he heard of this thing called bisexuality, he couldn't get it out of his head.

When he got home, he really did what Aoi had suggested - no, not watch photography tutorials - research about bisexuality and this thing called LGBT. There were too many unanswered questions inside of him that he _had_ to know the answers to.

After an hour of researching, he felt his stomach turn inside. He felt excited and scared at the same time. Coming out to himself was kind of a big change and big changes are scary.

Mondo was pretty sure that he was bisexual, even though he still doubted himself. I mean, he had been liking girls all his life but he had never liked a boy before Kiyotaka.

“It's fine, I'm still bisexual. It doesn't have to be 50/50 to be bi.” he told himself.

Still, something inside of him was making it negative. It was as if some tiny part inside of him was homophobic. And hell, maybe he was a tiny bit homophobic.

“I can't be homophobic if I am gay!” he said to himself a bit louder than he should have. He hoped no one heard him.

Yeah. He was gay now. Well, bisexual to be exact, but still gay. It sounded like some kind of dream to him. He never thought someone like him would turn out to be bisexual.

Well, one thing was sure. He was definitely gonna tell Chihiro and Aoi about it tomorrow.


	4. Coming out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mondo comes out as bisexual to his friends. But things don't stop there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is gonna have so much dialogue,,, i love writing dialogue and i think it would be boring without it, i promise next chapter won't be as much dialogue as this is

Mondo dragged Chihiro with him when we sneaked behind the school to smoke.  
‘He needed to tell her something’ was his reason, whatever that meant. Chihiro was quite sure he was gonna tell him some really bad news or something.

“Chihiro, I have to tell you something.” Mondo said as they got to the usual spot.

“You’ve said it like 5 times now. You're scaring me!” Chihiro answered.

“I just- I want you to be the first person to know.” Mondo explained himself.

“I-Is it something bad?” 

“I don't think so.” Mondo said and took a deep breath.

“Chihiro.”

“M-Mondo?”

“I think…” Mondo looked down and paused.

“I think I’m bisexual.” 

Chihiro smiled.

“You're bisexual? That's great Mondo! I’m so glad you told me!” she said happily. 

Mondo definitely didn't expect this kind of reaction, based on his facial expression.

“I-I just- you're my best friend and- I thought it made sense y’know?” he shyly scratched his forehead.

“I was scared you were gonna say I’m not your best friend anymore or something.” Chihiro said.

“What?! No! I would never!” Mondo almost yelled.

“So how did you find out that you're bi?”

Mondo inhaled the smoke of his cigarette.  
“First off, I found out that Sakura and Aoi are dating-”

“Mondo you didn't know?!” Chihiro asked.

“No?”

“Everyone knows! How could you- where do you live?!”

“What do you mean by that?!” Mondo asked and took a hit from his cigarette.

“Anyways, Aoi told me what LGBT was and told me to research it, and well, I recognized myself. Because like, I definitely have a crush on Kiyo-”

“Mondo why are you smoking on school property?” A very loud person in a white school uniform interrupted Mondo. 

_Speak of the fucking devil._

Mondo felt his face get red. Had he heard him? And if he had, how much did he hear?

“S-sorry…” Mondo said and squashed his cigarette against the wall once again.

“Please stop coming here to smoke!” Kiyotaka said and walked away.

Chihiro and Mondo made eye contact.

“Do you think he heard us?” Mondo asked.

“I don't know.” Chihiro answered.

“I really hope he didn't.” Mondo said.

Turns out he probably didn't hear anything, Mondo concluded from how Kiyotaka was acting when the art class failures got together to discuss plans.

“Today is just the right weather so Mondo will be coming with me. I need to take that one photo of you that we tried to take yesterday.”

“I guess.” Mondo said. Once again, he didn't have a say in this.

“Who has watched photography tutorials though?”

Kiyotaka and Makoto raised their hands.

“Mondo, you haven't?” Aoi asked.

“Sorry, I was busy yesterday.”

Aoi was about to complain when she realized what he must've been busy with. She decided to just give him The Look and not comment on it.

“Fine. Makoto and Kiyotaka, what are you gonna do?”

“I’ll go take pictures with Makoto!” Kiyotaka yelled.

“Yeah! There's actually a thing I wanna try doing.” Makoto surprisingly agreed.

“Then it's decided! This is going great!” Aoi clapped her hands happily.

As Kiyotaka and Makoto went away, Aoi gave Mondo a knowing look once again.

“What?” Mondo asked.

“You did research on LGBT things yesterday, didn't you?” 

“Wha- how did you know?!”

Aoi just chuckled as an answer.  
“Come on, we have to make it to the park before the sun goes away.”

“Hey, Aoi?” Mondo asked as they were going towards the park.

“What?”

“Is it okay if I smoke?”

“Sure, I don't care.”

Mondo got his cigarette pack, took one of the smokes, put one end of it between his lips and lit the other end with his lighter.

“I’m also bisexual now by the way.”

Aoi looked at him.  
“What! That's so cool! Mondo, you're cooler than I thought.”

“What's that supposed to mean?!”

“No actually, how did you discover you were bi?” Aoi asked.

“What about you?” Mondo asked.

“I realized it when I fell in love with Sakura. And then she asked me out like a week later!” Aoi said. “You?”

Mondo blew out the cigarette smoke from his mouth.  
“Guess who I have a crush on.” he said.

“You have a crush on Kiyotaka?!” Aoi gasped.

“Wha- seriously, how did you know?!” Mondo asked once again.

“I mean you were acting a little strange today and I don't think Makoto is really your type. Even though he does look like a twink.”

“What's a twink?”

“Basically what Makoto is. Anyways, you should definitely ask Kiyotaka out.”

“Wha- no way!”

“What, are you scared?”

“N-no!” Mondo defended himself.

“Then why not?” Aoi asked.

“I- uhh-”

“You what?”

“I-I don't know how…” Mondo trailed off at the end of the sentence.

Aoi laughed.  
“You just ask him to go on a date with you! I doubt he's gonna act weird, even if he rejects you.”

“But what if he does reject me?” Mondo looked up.

“Come on Mondo! Don't think like that. You have to be confident! I thought you were good at that.”

“I am!” Mondo said as he threw his cigarette on the ground. “I am confident!”

“Then ask Kiyotaka out!”

“...maybe!”

“That doesn't sound too confident.” 

Thankfully Mondo was saved from this conversation when they arrived at the park and got to work. Aoi once again insisted on Mondo being the model and Mondo couldn't tell if he was annoyed or flattered by it. I mean, it was nice to be considered model-worthy… but Mondo would never become a model.

After a long phone call with Chihiro at almost midnight, Mondo was sure he was going to ask Kiyotaka out. Chihiro was thrilled to hear that he was even considering it, and encouraged him greatly. Mondo was truly lucky to have a friend like Chihiro.

Now, he was looking up ways to ask someone out and what to do when it backfires. Despite his confident nature, he wasn't actually feeling too confident about asking Kiyotaka out. It would’ve been easier if he asked out a girl. But Kiyotaka was a whole another story.

How did he even end up falling for a boy? Especially Kiyotaka? They were almost polar opposites. Would it even make sense for them to be together?

Of course it would. He was Mondo Owada! He did whatever he wanted! If he wanted to date a boy, he’d date a boy! Who was there to stop him? Nobody!

Though Mondo still couldn't help but to worry. First off, was he even gay? Secondly, what if he disliked Mondo? I mean, he constantly had to tell him to follow the rules. What if Kiyotaka thought he was annoying? What if-

“Don't overthink Mondo. God, I'm not even the type to overthink!” Mondo told himself.

He sighed. If he really was gonna ask Kiyotaka out, it was not going to be easy.

But he was going to do it.


	5. the date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mondo makes his first gay moves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I am so so so sorry I haven't been updating. I started this in a hospital and ever since I got out I haven't really been writing much. I promise I'll get back to it tho >_<

Today was the day.

Mondo made sure his hair was looking extra good today. Nothing could go wrong today, everything just had to go right. He was feeling nervous, but also kind of thrilled.

Today was the day he was going to ask Kiyotaka out. He didn't really have a plan, he was more of the type to just go and wing it.

As he got to school, Chihiro was already waiting for him at his locker.

“So? Today's the day huh?” she asked.

“Yeah. Do I look alright?”

“You look great Mondo. I’m sure it will be fine.” 

“Yeah, I hope so.”

As they were walking to class, Kiyotaka passed by and yelled a good morning at them like he always did.

“Do you have a plan by the way?” Chihiro asked.

“Not really, actually.” Mondo admitted.

Chihiro covered his mouth.  
“But how are you gonna ask him out then? And when?”

“I think at lunch break.” Mondo said.

When lunch break started Chihiro and Mondo sat down to eat. Kiyotaka was nowhere to be seen and Mondo was getting nervous.

“I feel anxious, Chihiro,” he said, “I don't know if i I can do this.”

“Of course you can! You’re Mondo Owada!” Chihiro hyped him up. “You're always confident! I’m certain he’ll love it, whatever you do.”

After they had eaten and were walking to their next class, Mondo saw Kiyotaka coming from behind the corner.

“I'm going in.” Mondo quickly said before walking towards him.

“Hey, Taka?” he said as he reached him.

‘Taka’? How did this even slip out? Aw man, now he was definitely screwed!

“What is it, Mondo?” Kiyotaka surprisingly reacted to it. Mondo felt panic emerging from inside. He tried to keep it calm.

“I was wondering if um.. if you’d-um..”

_Come on, say it!_

“Do you wanna go to the amusement park with me?”

Kiyotaka looked at him without saying anything.

“To take pictures. They have a lot of helium balloons there, I thought we could use those-”

“Excellent idea, Mondo! I'm down!” Kiyotaka answered enthusiastically.

“Alright! Great. Awesome!” Mondo said and gave him a thumbs up before turning around.

_He forgot to say it was a date._

Ehh, it was gonna he fine. At least he’d asked him out. It wasn't too important if Kiyotaka knows it's a date or not. Right?

The amusement park was far enough that they’d have to take a bus.

They sat in the bus pretty much in complete silence. Mondo didn't know what to say and Kiyotaka thought it wasn't necessary to say anything.

Thankfully the bus ride wasn't too long and they got off in a bus stop only a 5 minute walk away from the amusement park. 

“So my idea is that I’m gonna be the photographer and you're gonna model for me.” Mondo said.

“I’ve never modeled for a photo before, so I’m kinda nervous…” Kiyotaka trailed off.

“I'm sure you'll do fine!” Mondo cheered him up.

“I’ll try my best!” Kiyotaka yelled like he always did. Somehow Mondo found it comforting.

They arrived at the amusement park soon after.

“We should go on a ride or something as well later on.” Mondo said.

“For taking pictures?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Just for fun.” Mondo replied.

But first came work. They bought a couple of helium balloons and tried to take some photos with them, but they kept losing them to the wind.

“Not the perfect weather for taking pictures.” Mondo said.

“At least it's sunny!” Kiyotaka mentioned. At least that was good, but the wind was really troublesome.

“What if we just tie the balloons to your hands?” Mondo suggested.

“Great idea!” Kiyotaka agreed.

So they bought new balloons and tied them to his hands. But now Mondo discovered another reason why the pictures aren't coming out great.

“Taka, you're tense.”

He let the camera hang from his neck and went to Kiyotaka. He put his hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye. 

“Loosen up. We're friends! You don't need to be on guard.” he said.

_Wow. Friendzoning yourself on your first date. Good to go Mondo, good to go._

“Okay, I’ll try.” Kiyotaka answered and continued to be as tense as he was before.

Mondo sighed. He was about to give up when he got an idea.

“We need more balloons.” he said.

“What’d you say?” Kiyotaka didn't hear him. Mondo didn't care, he grabbed Kiyotaka’s hand and dragged him to the balloon stand.

“We need 10 more balloons.” Mondo told the guy who was selling the balloons.

“10?!” Kiyotaka asked.

“Trust me.” Mondo answered.

As he reached to take the first balloon, he realized he was still holding hands with Kiyotaka. He felt his face get a little hot, but he tried to ignore it.

In order to tie the balloons to Kiyotaka’s arms, Mondo had to let go of his hand. Maybe he was imagining it, but it looked like Kiyotaka was a little flustered as well.

“What are you doing?” Kiyotaka asked as Mondo tied balloons to different places on his arm.

“Trust me, it's gonna look great.” Mondo replied.

Kiyotaka's arms ended up covered with helium balloons from his wrists to his shoulders.

“Okay and now act like you're gonna fly away. Like, like you're Rose from Titanic y’know?”

“I haven't seen Titanic.”

“You haven't seen Titanic?!”

Right now was not the time for this. The sun was starting to set and they had limited time.

“Just spread your arms out like you're about to fly.” Mondo said. “You can even run around! We can take action shots.” 

You didn't need to say that twice to Kiyotaka. He immediately started running in figures of eight, the balloons following him wherever he went. He even looked like he was having fun!

Mondo felt butterflies in his stomach awaken. He looked so pretty! He tried his best to capture that beauty in photos as well.

“Yay!” said Kiyotaka as he ran around, a smile on his face and his eyes almost closed. The golden hour glow shone on him and the balloons, adding extra glory to the photos he was taking.

Mondo felt like he was in a dream. Everything about the current situation was so romantic that Mondo could barely withstand it. He was 1 step away from throwing himself onto Kiyotaka’s hands and confessing his love to him.

“Mondo? You alright?”

He realized he’d been spacing out while looking at Kiyotaka.

“Y-yeah, you're just really pretty.” Mondo said.

Kiyotaka blushed.  
“T-thank you..!” he said in a strangely soft voice, making Mondo melt in its sweetness.

“Anyways, come look at the photos we got.” Mondo invited him over.

Kiyotaka was so close when they looked at the pictures together. Mondo could barely focus, but he managed somehow.

“These are really good pictures! I’m sure Aoi and Makoto are gonna be proud of us.” Kiyotaka said.

“I’m sure they will.” Mondo agreed.

“So? Do you wanna go on a ride before we leave?” Mondo asked after a little pause.

Kiyotaka thought about it.

“If I were to choose, I’d wanna try the roller coaster !” he yelled.

“Roller coaster it is then.” Mondo smiled.

Turned out Kiyotaka loved roller coasters. He threw his hands in the air and yelled loudly almost the whole ride. Mondo found it absolutely adorable.

As they got off, Kiyotaka immediately said he also wants to go to the ferris wheel. How could Mondo say no to a happy boy like Kiyotaka?

Contrary to the rollercoaster, the wheel was slow and steady. Kiyotaka seemed to enjoy it as much as he enjoyed riding the rollercoaster though - he was looking outside with the happiest look on his face.

“I hope I see my house from the top!” He said loudly.

“Where do you live?” Mondo asked without realizing how strange it sounded.

“Not far from here. About a 5 minute walk maybe? No, 10 minute walk actually.” Taka thought out loud.

He was so relaxed. In fact, Mondo had never seen him that relaxed. Usually he was somehow... tense. Usually the little pauses between their sentences would be awkward, but right now it was comfortable silence.

As they were starting to get to the top, Kiyotaka pointed somewhere.

“See? That’s my home right there!” he said. Mondo obviously couldn’t tell which one in that direction was his house, but he acted like he knew.

“Where do you live, Mondo?” Kiyotaka suddenly asked.

“It’s far from here.” Mondo responded, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks.

“Aw, that’s a pity.” Taka said and pouted.

“Hey, look! There’s our school!” he yelled after a small pause.

“Oh, you’re right!” Mondo exclaimed. “I live in that direction, but a little further.”

Taka looked at him and nodded.

The ride shouldn't have ended this early. Mondo would’ve loved to be alone with Kiyotaka in a closed room for a much longer time. 

“So, what now?” Mondo asked.

“I mean, the sun is setting so I should probably go home…” Kiyotaka said.

“Me too, probably.” Mondo agreed.

“It was nice though!” Kiyotaka said loudly. “I hope the pictures came out nice too.”

“I’m sure they did.” Mondo assured him.

So, their ways parted and they said goodbye. What a pity their houses were the opposite ways, Mondo would’ve loved to go home with Kiyotaka.

The date was a success though, Mondo concluded. He had gotten some great pictures of him and he had seen him happy and relaxed, a sight that not many had seen. The only downsides were that the date was short, the weather was windy and Kiyotaka didn’t even know it was a date.

One day he was gonna ask Taka for a real date.


	6. almost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mondo doesn't sleep for one night and dream like opportunities show themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii i am so so so sorry i deleted the first published 6th chapter :// i felt it was a little empty, so i decide to add some spice ;)  
> anyways! i hope you still like it :D

The whole night Mondo couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about how happy Kiyotaka looked back at the amusement park and how great pictures he got of him. A blessing and a curse at the same time.

So he ended up going to school with a couple of energy drinks in his bag to live through the day. He wasn't gonna skip; Aoi, Makoto and Taka needed him. Plus he had a test in chemistry that he actually tried studying for.

When he got to school, he immediately got greeted by a loud and energetic Kiyotaka, who had definitely had a good night's sleep.

“Mondo, you look down. Is everything alright?” Taka asked.

Mondo froze. Taka noticed! What a keen eye he has. Mondo felt flattered but also a little annoyed. He really hoped nobody was gonna question anything about him.

“Truth is, I haven't slept a single hour.” he answered honestly.

Kiyotaka gasped.  
“You poor thing! You know, you could still go home and sleep it out, right? You don't have to sacrifice your health for school like that.” he said with a worried tone.

Mondo could die right this very second. Kiyotaka was worried about him! He cared! Mondo felt a little blush creeping up his cheeks.

“We have a chemistry test today.” Mondo said. “Can't afford to miss it.”

“Still…”

Mondo wanted to squeal and hug Taka tightly. He was so cute when he was worried!

“Don't worry, I have energy drinks with me.”

“You're not allowed to carry energy drinks at school!” Kiyotaka said probably a bit louder than he should.

“...make sure to drink them in the bathroom so no one sees!” he added.

Mondo looked at him with wide eyes.  
“For real? You're not gonna…?”

“It's an emergency after all.” Kiyotaka scratched his neck. “Don't tell anyone I said that to you though!”

Mondo smiled.  
“Trust me, the secret is safe with me.” he said.

Kiyotaka smiled back.

The whole day Mondo was barely alive. He drank 2 energy drinks throughout the day, would've drunk 3 if Chihiro hadn't told him he might die of a heart attack if he did. Mondo decided he can doze off in literature instead of dying.

After literature and maths, the lessons were over for the day and Mondo was gonna meet up with Taka, Aoi and Makoto in geography class.

Surprisingly, he was second to arrive. Kiyotaka was already waiting there and he stood up when Mondo entered.

“Mondo, are you okay?” he asked with a worried expression on his face. Mondo’s heart jumped.

“I’m fine, yeah.” Mondo answered. He would definitely rather sleep right now, but he was okay.

“I’ve been worried this whole day.” Kiyotaka said.

“You don't need to worry about me, Taka.” Mondo smiled. He could feel his heartbeat get quicker and a blush creeping up to his cheeks. He had been living in Taka’s mind rent free for the whole day! Sounded more like a dream than reality.

“Still! You're my-”

Kiyotaka paused. The tension in the air grew.

“My fellow classmate and I care about you!” he ended his sentence.

Good save, thought Mondo. Though he could've just called him his boyfriend, he wouldn't mind.

_Like that would happen._

“That's really sweet of you.” Mondo said. He would've continued if Aoi and Makoto hadn't walked in that same moment.

“Well, let's get started, shall we?” Aoi asked cheerfully.

Turned out that they had taken enough pictures already and now was the time to pick out the best ones and edit them.

“How about Kiyotaka and Mondo pick them out and me and Makoto edit them?” 

“I love editing! Sure!” Makoto agreed.

“I will do my best!” Kiyotaka yelled.

And so, the meeting was over. Kiyotaka and Mondo walked out of the school together.

“So what's the plan?” Mondo asked.

“The plan is that you’ll go home and go to sleep and I’ll go home and pick the photos.”

“No way. I’m not letting you do all the work alone! I'm coming with you.” 

“I object! You need to sleep.”

“I'm fine Taka, I got to nap a little and I feel great.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.”

“100%?”

“Yup.”

“Pinky promise you'll be able to do it?” Kiyotaka was holding his pinky up and looked at him dead in the eye. 

Mondo couldn't help but to look back at him. Those beautiful deep red eyes of his - one day they were gonna hypnotise Mondo, he was certain.

“Pinky promise.” Mondo said and wrapped his pinky around Taka’s.

“Okay, fine.” Taka gave up. “But tell me when you feel tired okay?”

“Got it.”

The fact that Mondo was going to Kiyotaka’s house hadn't registered in Mondo’s brain yet. He wasn't mentally prepared to see how tidy it all was.

Kiyotaka’s room was messier than Mondo thought, but it was still way cleaner than his room. 

“Excuse the mess, I wasn't expecting anyone to come here like this.” Kiyotaka seemed to be embarrassed a little.

“You call this a mess? Hell, you should see my room.” Mondo replied.

Without too much talking, they got to work. This meant going through each and every one of the photos and deciding if it's gonna make the final cut or not.

It went pretty well until they got to the pictures that Mondo had taken of Kiyotaka.

“Let's not include these…” Kiyotaka tried to skip through them but Mondo stopped him.

“Why not? I think they're great photos.”

“I don't know they just- they didn't come out good.”

“Yes they did. Look at this one!” Mondo opened up a photo of him.

“Look at the colors and everything. I think it looks aesthetic as fuck. It should definitely make the final cut.”

“You think so?” Taka asked.

“I know so. Look at it! How can you say it didn't come out good? I think it's one of the best photos out of all of them.” Mondo said.

Kiyotaka looked at it for a while.

“Still…” he didn't quite want to agree.

“What's the problem with it, Taka? Why do you not like it? What's the reason?” Mondo asked seriously.

“I'm not really photogenic…” Kiyotaka avoided eye contact. Mondo grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Taka you _are_ photogenic. You don't gotta be so insecure about yourself! You are photogenic and that is a fact. Be more confident in yourself! I thought you were good at that.”

“I am confident..! It's just-”

“Just what, Taka?”

Kiyotaka didn't say a single word.

“I don't know.. It's just that I’ve never really modeled before and everyone else did so much better and-” 

“Taka, your pictures are the best of all of them.” Mondo interrupted him.

Kiyotaka looked up at him.  
“Really?”

“Really. Don't compare yourself to others so much! It's gonna destroy your self confidence.” 

Taka smiled a little.  
“Okay.”

“So we agree that this picture should make the final cut?”

“Yeah.”

“Perfect.”

Normally this would be where they got back to work but they just stared at each other instead, waiting for one of them to say something. However, neither of them dared to say anything.

Slowly, they began leaning closer to each other. Mondo glanced at Kiyotaka’s lips. God they looked so kissable right now.

Seconds felt like hours to him. He couldn't stop admiring Kiyotaka, no matter how hard he tried. He knew he should say something, but he kinda didn't want to.

His heart was beating faster every time Taka got closer. The distance between them was slowly getting shorter and shorter. Mondo felt his face get crimson red.

At this point they were so close their noses weren't far apart from touching. But just as Mondo was about to risk it all and kiss him, someone yelled out Taka’s name from downstairs.

Taka quickly pulled away.  
“What is it?” he yelled back.

“Come downstairs for a moment!”

Taka hesitantly stood up.  
“W-wait here.” he said before he left the room.

Mondo’s heart was still beating fast. What had just happened? They were about to kiss! He was about to kiss Taka himself! Mondo couldn't calm his heart down from the excitement and nervousness.

He heard footsteps coming up. The door opened, revealing a still flustered looking Kiyotaka.

“Um.. mom asked if you could stay for dinner.”

Mondo would've died right there and then. Taka was unbearably cute when he was shy.

“Huh? S-sure, I guess.” he said after he realized he had been zoning out.

The dinner was suffocatingly awkward. Kiyotaka’s mom kept asking Mondo all sorts of questions while he and Kiyotaka kept glancing at each other and looking away immediately when their eyes met. The parents didn't find anything strange, thankfully.

After dinner, Kiyotaka sent Mondo home.

“W-well um, see you at school!” Taka said shyly.

“Yeah..! See you there.” Mondo awkwardly responded.

When Mondo started going, Kiyotaka stared at him through the window until he couldn't see him anymore and then went back to his room.

He wanted to squeal so badly. He and Mondo almost kissed! This meant Mondo probably liked him back!

He hugged a pillow and buried his red face into it. God, how was he gonna face him tomorrow at school?

Maybe now was the right time to ask him out on a date.


	7. Things that must be said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyotaka takes one for the team and does something that needs to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi sorry I keep updating so late,,, I actaully had this ready for at least a week but I just never got to actually publishing it. Well, it's here now! I hope you enjoy :D

“Would you go on a date with me?”

“Please go on a date with me!”

“Do you wanna go on a date with me?”

Kiyotaka sighed.  
“This is so stupid.” he mumbled to himself. He then stood up straight, cleared his voice with a cough and looked into the mirror.

“Mondo, please go on a date with me!” he said.

“No way this is gonna work.” he mumbled again.  
He sat on his bed and sighed.

The last days had been awkward. They avoided each other the best they could, but if they crossed paths, they just gave each other a shy little ‘hi’ and fled the scene as fast as they could. They sat apart from each other in meetings and interacted with each other as little as possible. Their conversations (if there were any) were awkward and filled with pauses, waiting for each other to speak. In short - it was kind of a nightmare.

Despite all this, Kiyotaka was gonna ask Mondo out on a date tomorrow. He had decided to take the risk for it and at least try. After what happened he was pretty certain Mondo liked him back, so really, what did he have to lose? Even if he refuses, well, at least he tried and debunked that theory.

Honestly, Kiyotaka was worried. What if Mondo didn't like guys to begin with? What if actually, Mondo was straight?

I mean, he was a delinquent. He was manly and strong, with a quick temper and little to no manners. He was a classical troublemaker.

As much as Kiyotaka denied it, he was madly attracted to troublemakers. He admired their confidence and their strong will to do anything they want. He thought willingly breaking the rules and not being scared of consequences was really cool. Honestly, Kiyotaka was somewhat jealous.

Unfortunately though, they were always straight. 

_Mondo could be straight._

He shook his head. Now was not the time to get discouraged! He had already decided on asking him out. There was no way out anymore! He had to do it!

Besides, well, they almost kissed. Almost. Would a straight man do this? Would a straight man go in for a kiss out of nowhere with a classmate of the same sex? No. There's your answer.

“It will work!” he said to himself.

The next day at school Kiyotaka was waiting for Mondo near the entrance of the school. It was a habit of his to greet everyone as they came in. He thought it would be a great start to a morning.

Obviously, he’d have to greet Mondo too. He saw him coming from far away and awkwardly pretended like he didn't see anything until he came up to him.

“H-Hi Taka.” Mondo said awkwardly as he saw him.

“G-good morning..!” Taka answered as awkwardly as Mondo.

Mondo stood there for a moment, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. Kiyotaka just stood there, frozen like a block of ice, his intentions completely wiped from his mind.

“Well, I’ll- I’ll get going then.” he said after a long and uncomfortable silence and walked past him.

Damnit! He froze up and forgot to ask Mondo out, Kiyotaka thought angrily.

Well, technically he had the whole day.

During lunch break, Mondo was nowhere to be seen. Taka only saw Chihiro sitting alone at the lunch table with no Mondo beside her.

He decided to go ask her about it.

“Hey, Chihiro?” he moved to her table.

“Hello Kiyotaka!” Chihiro responded. She seemed happy despite not having Mondo around.

“Do you happen to know where Mondo is?” he asked.

“What! No, totally not. He was supposed to come here but I don't know where he went!” Chihiro badly acted like she didn't know anything.

“Chihiro, I have something to tell him. Do you really not know where he is?” Kiyotaka asked her again.

“No, not at all! You can tell me though, and I can tell him.” Chihiro offered.

“I need to tell him directly, so sadly I cannot do that.”

“Why? What's so important? Are you tryna catch him breaking the rules or something?”

“It's not like that. I-”

“You?”

Kiyotaka took a deep breath.  
“I wanna ask Mondo out.”

Chihiro’s eyes widened.  
“Wha! I knew it! I knew you liked him back!”

Kiyotaka smiled.  
“So? Do you know where he is?”

Chihiro gulped.  
“Promise you won't yell at me?” she asked quietly.

“Promise.” Kiyotaka nodded.

“Don't tell him I told you, but he's smoking behind the school.” Chihiro almost whispered.

“Thank you so much!” Kiyotaka smiled again.

“Good luck!” Chihiro smiled back and winked before he left.

Chihiro was right - right as he turned that corner, he saw Mondo smoking a cigarette.

“...Hi.” Mondo muttered.

“Mondo, I've been looking for you!” Taka said.

“What? W-what did I do?” Mondo panicked. “I'm sorry for smoking, it's just-” 

“Mondo, it's fine. I didn't come to yell at you for smoking. You can finish your smoke.”

“F-for real?”

Kiyotaka nodded.  
“U-um, how do I say this…” he mumbled, debating whether to speak his mind or not. He decided to not waste any time and just get on with it.

“Mondo.”

“Taka..?”

He took a deep breath.  
“P-please- I mean- do you-”

_Fuck. Not now! Come on, spit it out!_

“Please go on a date with me!” he yelled and bowed.

Mondo coughed on the smoke from his cigarette. His face was getting significantly red as he stared at Kiyotaka who was bowing in front of him.

“D-date? W-w-with you?” he asked.

“Yes!”

Mondo was quiet for so long that Kiyotaka looked up to see if he had left.

Mondo tried to act cool but failed miserably.

“S-sure I g-g-guess.” he said quietly while avoiding eye contact.

Taka smiled widely.  
“How does this sunday sound?”

Mondo’s hands were shaking as he took a hit from his smoke.

“I-I’m free, yeah.” he said.

“Great! I’ll meet you at noon at the amusement park then.”

Mondo nodded.  
“Okay.”

Before Kiyotaka left, he looked back for one more time.

“Don't tell anyone I said this, but smoking is kinda hot.”

Mondo blushed hard.


	8. Rain - a blessing and a curse, but more of a blessing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mondo and Kiyotaka go on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii i am so so so so sorry that i've been very inactive! i got a job recently and i haven't been able to find the time to update. but hey! it's here now!
> 
> i hope you enjoy!

The whole bus ride to the amusement park, Mondo was quietly giving himself a pep talk.

“Everything will go alright. Nothing can go bad this date. Everything will be fine! I’m Mondo Owada, luck is on my side.” he quietly mumbled to himself.

Stepping off the bus, his heart raced. He wasn't ready! He hadn't prepared enough! Should he have bought flowers? Or would it be too extra? Argh! He wasn't ready!

“I'm Mondo Owada. Everything goes great when I'm around.” he said to himself. That's right. Everything will be fine! Everything will be fine.

The closer he got to the amusement park, the quicker his heart beat. He was more nervous than he should. I mean, he was going on a date with his crush, so it was understandable, but still!

Taka wasn't at the entrance of the amusement park. So where was he? Had he arrived early? Or had he arrived too late? 

He then remembered that they never agreed on a meeting spot. He just said amusement park and that was it.

Mondo sighed. He wasn't gonna walk through the whole amusement park, looking for Taka. He’d call him, but he didn't have his number.

He then noticed something sticking out of the crowd - a red helium balloon.

Mondo looked at the balloon for a while before he realized it was coming towards him. He decided to go towards the balloon as well.

As the balloon got closer and closer, Mondo was relieved to see Taka holding it. He was wearing a red jacket and a white shirt along with some dark blue jeans.

When they met, they first stared at each other for a good 5 seconds in complete silence. Mondo could not take his eyes off of him.

“Hi.” Taka said with a smile.

“You look great..!” Mondo blurted out. Taka chuckled cutely.

“Thank you! You look amazing as well, Mondo.”

Mondo blushed. He was definitely way more nervous than Taka.

“Well? What should we do first?” Mondo asked.

“I wanna go to the rollercoaster! It was so fun last time.” Taka said.

“Let's go then.” Mondo said and started going when Taka stopped him.

Instead of saying something, he held out one hand, gesturing for Mondo to come and take it.

Mondo blushed deeply and gave his hand to Taka. 

“Hm. Your hands are bigger than mine.” Taka noted.

“They are?” Mondo asked.

“Yeah.” Taka held his hand and looked at him.

Mondo smiled proudly. He was overall bigger than Taka, and it made Mondo feel very happy. He liked being big and masculine.

They swung their hands back and forth. Taka’s hands were very soft and nice to hold. 

Even on the rollercoaster they didn't let go. When Taka yelled out of joy, he raised Mondo’s hand in the air along with his own.

Mondo swore he could go on rollercoasters the whole day if it meant he could watch Taka have fun. He was usually very serious in school, but in his company, he let loose and enjoyed himself. Man, Mondo really loved Kiyotaka.

After the rollercoaster Mondo admitted that he was too nervous to eat before the date and Taka forced him to eat some churros and french fries.

“How nervous are you, Mondo? To forget to eat? Do you really have _that_ big of a crush on me?”

Mondo choked on his food. How was Taka so casual? Why wasn't he nervous?

Instead of an answer, he apologetically smiled at him. Taka smiled back.

“You’ve got to be joking!”

Suddenly the smile from Kiyotaka’s face was gone. He was looking outside the window - no, he was looking at the window. More precisely, the raindrops on the window.

“Our first date and it rains?!” he was furious.

“Second actually.” Mondo corrected him.

“The time we took photos here? I asked you out on a date but I was way too nervous to let you know.” he added.

Kiyotaka smiled somewhat shyly.  
“That was our first date?”

“Technically yeah.”

Kiyotaka looked at him with a shy smile.

“Well! I guess it isn't _that_ bad that it's raining then. It still really sucks though!”

Mondo quietly stuffed his mouth with the remaining fries while Taka looked at the rain outside.

“What do we do, Mondo?” Taka turned to him. 

Mondo shrugged.

“I’d say go to the cinema but nothing interesting is on…” Taka rested his head on his palms and looked at Mondo.

“We could technically watch a movie at my house,” Mondo started with a full mouth, “but it's like _really_ messy.”

Taka seemed to brighten up.  
“Great idea! It's exactly movie night weather!”

“You sure? It's seriously messy-”

“Contrary to popular belief, I don't mind messes. I mean, I’m in love with one.”

“Hey!”

Taka chuckled and booped Mondo’s nose. Mondo blushed. They were acting like they knew each other for years and it's only the second date. They weren't even officially dating!

“Well, shall we get going?”

Their journey to Mondo’s house was… wet. Despite trying their best, they arrived at Mondo’s house pretty much soaked.

“I’ll get us something dry, wait here.” Mondo said and ran upstairs.

Taka stood still like a statue until Mondo got back.

“Here. The bathroom is there.” Mondo said as he gave him a t-shirt and pointed at a door.

As Taka got changed, he was forced to accept the fact that even though it didn't seem like it, Mondo was bigger than Taka. Or he had purposely given him a huge t-shirt.

Mondo blushed deeply when he saw Taka wearing his clothes. He couldn't tell why he was so flustered over something so little, but he was totally willing to give Taka all of his clothes if it meant he would see such a sight again.

“I-It looks great on you.” Mondo said when he realized he had been staring for too long.

“It makes me look tiny.” Taka complained.

“It's cute.” Mondo chuckled.

Taka pouted and crossed his arms.  
“Did you purposely give me a big shirt?”

“All my shirts are the same size.” Mondo said.

“You can't be that much bigger than me.” Taka didn't give up.

“Oh yeah?” Mondo just smirked.

God that was so hot, thought Kiyotaka. He could tell that Mondo was getting less nervous and he liked it. His true troublemaker self was returning and Kiyotaka was all ready for it.

“I'm gonna order some food. What do we want?” Mondo asked while Taka was busy admiring him.

“Pizza!” Taka answered automatically.

“Alrighty!” Mondo said and took his phone to make some calls.

While Mondo was ordering their food, Kiyotaka took the opportunity to choose his spot on the couch. He grabbed a blanket from between the pillows and wrapped it around him. Mm, warmth.

“Are you cold? I can give you a hoodie if you want.” Mondo said and didn't even wait for an answer before going to his room.

He came back with a blue hoodie. Taka knew it was going to be big for him, but he had already accepted his fate.

Mondo could not stop staring at Taka after he had put the hoodie on.

“I knew it. It makes me look weird and tiny and-”

“I like when you wear my clothes.” Mondo interrupted Taka’s rambling. “It makes me feel like you're mine.”

Taka blushed hard. Damn! Mondo was hot as hell when he said things like that.

“Mondo, I _am_ yours.” Taka said.

“Well, you’ve never really said it so-”

“Come here, Mondo. Sit down.” Taka sat down on the couch and patted the space next to him.

Mondo obeyed him and sat down next to him. Taka then turned around so that he’d be facing him. Mondo did the same.

“Give me your hands.” Taka demanded. Mondo did as he was told.

Now, holding Mondo’s hands, Taka looked deep into Mondo’s eyes.

“I love you.” he said.

Mondo immediately blushed. Hard. It would be accurate to say his face turned into a tomato.

“You do?”

“Yeah. More than you think.”

Mondo wanted to hide his face with his hands but Taka held onto them.

“You're cute when you're shy but you're hot when you're confident.” Taka said.

“I'm sorry I'm so nervous I just- I’ve never felt this way about a boy before.” Mondo apologetically chuckled.

“Truth is… you were my gay awakening, Taka. I had a crush on you without even realizing! And like, remember that day when I survived purely on energy drinks? Yeah I couldn't sleep because I was doing gay research.”

Taka laughed.

“Wait I actually don't know. Are you like..?”

“I'm bisexual.” Mondo answered. “And you are?”

“Gay. Just gay. I’ve liked guys ever since I was a kid.”

“Damn.” Mondo nodded. “I’ve liked girls my whole life, until you came.” 

Taka chuckled. He then broke the eye contact to look at their hands.

Sadly their sweet moment was disturbed by the doorbell ringing.

“Our pizza came.” Mondo said and stood up, letting go of Taka’s hands.

He came back carrying a lot of pizza boxes. He put them down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“There we go! Now we can start the movie night.” he said as he sat down next to Taka.

The movie was great. The food was great. The tension between them was high, especially when a kissing scene occurred. 

When there was a really scary moment in the movie, Taka took Mondo’s hand to hold. After that moment, neither of them could focus on the movie anymore. All they could think about was each other.

The movie ended with both of them being unable to summarize what happened, simply because they didn't pay attention enough.

“It's still raining outside…” Taka said as the credits rolled.

“Sucks, man.” Mondo added.

“You know what? Maybe it doesn't suck that much. I mean we got a cozy little place, we got pizza, I mean what more do we want?” Taka spoke his thoughts.

“Fair… though being in the amusement park would be cool as hell too.”

They both looked out of the window in silence.

“What's the time?” Taka asked.

“Around… 4PM.” Mondo checked his phone.

“What do you wanna do?” Taka asked.

“I don't know…”

“Watch another movie?”

They did watch another movie. This time, they held hands from the beginning and could already focus on the movie. Holding hands wasn't a distraction anymore, it was a lot more comfortable and the tension between them went down a lot.

Time passed quickly when they were having fun. Soon it was time for Taka to go home.

“Are you sure? It's still raining.” Mondo was worried.

“I have strict parents, Mondo. They’d kill me if I came home late.”

The situation got solved by Mondo lending him his umbrella. Even though Mondo was very persistent in sending him home, Taka wanted him to stay inside.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?”

“It's just rain, Mondo! It's not like I'm made of sugar or something.” Taka chuckled.

He stepped onto the street and turned around to face Mondo.

“Can you come here for a sec?” he yelled over the sound of the rain.

Mondo was confused, but went to Taka anyway.

Having arrived under the umbrella, he realized - since there wasn't a lot of room, they were very close together. Mondo blushed immediately.

“Sorry for making you come here, I just forgot one thing.” Taka said.

“What?” Mondo asked.

Taka smirked before giving Mondo a kiss on the cheek.

“O-oh.” Mondo said after a small pause. Taka chuckled.

“Okay go back inside now. I should really go.” he said. Mondo nodded and ran back to his house.

They waved at each other until they couldn't see each other anymore. Mondo then went inside and plopped down on the couch, ready to process what just happened.

“He really likes me huh.” he said to himself.


End file.
